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All Articles: PAX East 2011
Interview: Augmenting Deus Ex: Human Revolution With Game Director Jean-Francois Dugas
One of the more high profile developers we got to interview at PAX East 2011 was Jean-Francois Dugas, Game Director on Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Eidos Montreal hopes the upcoming sequel will establish the franchise as a dominant force in gaming, but it’s been a long journey for Dugas and his team in their attempt to accomplish that. Throughout the interview we talk about the challenges of reviving an older franchise, their unique relationship with their Japanese publisher, Warren Spector’s feedback, and influences from movies to anime to Metal Gear to… Professor Layton? (more…)
Posted in Features, Interviews, PC, Previews, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Deus Ex: Human Revolution, PAX East 2011
Deus Ex: Human Revolution inspired by Blade Runner, RoboCop and… Professor Layton?
Eidos Montreal set up shop at this weekend’s PAX East show to talk about their upcoming game Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The prequel to the Warren Spector-created series will be released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on August 23.
We had an opportunity to sit down with Game Director Jean-Francois Dugas at the show. During the interview we talked about the challenges of reviving an older franchise, their unique relationship with Square Enix, Warren Spector’s feedback, and what influenced the team during the development of the game:
Dugas: [W]e look at everything around. Of course, we looked at Blade Runner, we went back even to RoboCop. We even watched Johnny Mnemonic again.
Warp Zoned: Ohhh no!
Dugas: Haha, yeah, but there are good ideas in that, even though it’s not a great movie, so you really need to have an open mind. And even the not so good stuff might be interesting anyway. We also went into Japanese anime like Ghost in the Shell, but also things like Solty Rei. I don’t know if you heard of that, it’s more obscure.
We also went into books about transhumanism, real stuff that’s non-fiction. Watched a lot of documentaries about a lot of things. So our sources of inspiration weren’t necessarily sci-fi driven, they were about everything that relates to our game. Like anticipation of the future, transhumanism, how to create good cyber punk setting, it was all over the place.
Even Professor Layton inspires me! (laughing) I love that game!
You can read our full interview with Jean-Francois Dugas right here.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Deus Ex: Human Revolution, PAX East 2011
Release Dates: Child of Eden, Arcana Heart 3
Release dates for Child of Eden and Arcana Heart 3 have snuck out of this weekend’s PAX East.
According to Joystiq, an Ubisoft representative has alerted them to the news that Child of Eden will be available on June 14 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. The musical motion game is being developed by Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Q Entertainment and will include Kinect support.
Meanwhile, Scrawl has learned that Arcana Heart 3 will be available to download from the PlayStation Network on April 5. An Xbox 360 version of the all-female fighting game has also been given a rating by the ESRB, but only the PSN version has been officially announced.
We’ll have more from PAX East all weekend.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Arcana Heart 3, PAX East 2011
Naughty Dog: Uncharted 2 train level and collapsing building will “look like child’s play”
Senior Editor Nicole Kline and I are right now at the Naughty Dog Panel, “The Making of an Announcement – Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception“. We got to see part two of the 2-Player Productions and Naughty Dog collaboration detailing how Uncharted 3 came to be revealed. After the credits roll, a slight tease plays where a developer talks about how they’re taking players to new environments and situations they haven’t seen before. At the end, he proclaims the infamous train level and collapsing building segment shown at E3 will look like “child’s play” compared to what’s in the new game.
That’s a pretty bold statement considering how big those moments were in 2009. The team clearly gets across they’re under a lot of pressure in the video, so hopefully they’ll deliver when Uncharted 3 releases on the PlayStation 3 November 1, 2011.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged PAX East 2011, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Red Faction: Armageddon blows **** up real good with Ruin Mode
Do you love the sound of breaking glass? Then Red Faction: Armageddon‘s “Ruin Mode” is for you:
Introducing Ruin, Red Faction: Armageddon’s mode dedicated to pure destructive mayhem. Choose your weapons, enter the arena, and unleash hell. Chain together explosive combinations for bonus points, and compete with your friends’ high scores on the online leader boards in Challenge Mode. Or engage in untimed Free Play rounds in which you explore the surface and seek out its most destructive secrets. As you destroy all that you see around you, your creativity will be rewarded.
Check out the trailer above to get a taste of Ruin Mode or play it for yourself at THQ’s booth (#956) if you’ve got tickets to this weekend’s PAX East.
Red Faction: Armageddon will be released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 31.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged PAX East 2011, Red Faction: Armageddon
The Darkness II playable at PAX East; first screenshots revealed
2K Games is bringing playable demos of two of their biggest upcoming titles, The Darkness II and Duke Nukem Forever, to this weekend’s PAX East show. There’s probably not a person reading this that doesn’t have at least some idea about Duke Nukem Forever, but The Darkness II should have your attention as well.
The Darkness II introduces “Quad-Wielding,” which allows players to use their Demon Arms while simultaneously firing two weapons. Basically, you’ll become an eviler Doctor Octopus.
You can check out a quartet of “Quad-Wielding” Darkness II screens after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Duke Nukem Forever, PAX East 2011, The Darkness II
Warp Zoned at PAX East 2011
The Warp Zoned team (Senior Editor Nicole Kline, News Editor Mike Gutierrez, Podcast Producer Ryan Littlefield and Contributor Brianne Galli) have arrived at this year’s Penny Arcade Expo East. The 2011 edition of the gaming festival is being held at the Boston Convention Center today, tomorrow and Sunday.
The sold-out show includes demonstrations and hands-on playtime for many gamer’s most anticipated titles including BioShock Infinite, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon and more. The second annual PAX East Omegathon will also pit 20 lucky expo-goers against each other in brutal battles of Katamari, Jenga and Operation.
Keep your browsers tuned to our PAX East 2011 page to keep up with the latest news, previews and all the shenanigans of Nicole, Mike, Ryan and Bri.
Posted in News
Tagged PAX East 2011
Tribes: Ascend announced at PAX East
Long-time readers of Penny Arcade are well aware of Mike “Gabe” Krahulik and Jerry “Tycho” Holkins’ love-hate relationship with the Tribes franchise. So it should come as no surprise that Hi-Rez Studios has used the first day of the PAX East expo to announce Tribes: Ascend, the next game in the multiplayer shooter series. The publisher has also unveiled the game’s debut trailer, which you can see above.
Hi-Rez considers the Unreal Engine 3-powered Tribes: Ascend as the true successor to Tribes 2 and considers the game “a re-introduction of the franchise to the gaming world.”
“Before Halo, before Modern Warfare, and before Battlefield, there was Tribes.”, says Todd Harris, Hi-Rez Studios COO. “Tribes fans appreciate the game’s essence – athletic FPS combat combined with teamwork and strategy. As we began development of Tribes Universe, we focused first on capturing that essence – refining and modernizing iconic elements like jetpacks, skiing, and vehicles. We’ve had tremendous fun play-testing and realized the potential of a multiplayer focused title ahead of Tribes Universe. The community has been waiting for a multi-player shooter that is the modern successor to T2. Tribes: Ascend is that game.”
Tribes: Ascend will be released towards the end of the year as a downloadable title for the PC and Xbox Live Arcade. Releasing the game on “additional platforms” is also being considered.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox 360
Tagged PAX East 2011